Residents line up against strip mall

Opponents say planned Accokeek retail center isn't needed

Accokeek residents and representatives are opposing a planned retail development they said is unnecessary and would worsen overdevelopment in their community.

The development, called Accokeek Crossing, would be a 400,000- to 550,000-square-foot retail center that would occupy more than 56 acres of land at the southeastern intersection of Indian Head Highway/Route 210 and Livingston Road in Accokeek.

Opponents say the project is little more than a strip mall that would provide the kind of shopping that already exists along the highway.

"We don't need another strip mall in Accokeek," said Del. James Proctor (D-Dist. 27A), whose district includes Accokeek. "That's what the people believe, and that's what I believe."

Proctor said Accokeek tends to attracts developers who want to build strip malls or rubble dumping sites. Land throughout the area is slowly being eaten away by redundant development projects, he said.

"We're running out of space everywhere else."

The land where the development would be built is currently zoned as rural-residential, according to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In order for the developer, Regency Centers based in Jacksonville, Fla., to build Accokeek Crossings, the land would have to be rezoned as commercial, an issue the County Council would ultimately decide. At the earliest, construction would not begin until fall 2009.

"They [Regency Centers] do not have the zoning they need," said Wendy Irminger, a planning coordinator for the M-NCPPC in Prince George's County. "We think this developer is going to try to get this land rezoned."

The developer of the project said Accokeek Crossing would offer a first-class retail development with the hopes of including sit-down restaurants, a specialty grocer and general merchandise shopping. Seth Long, an investment manager for Regency Centers, said it is too early to determine exactly what retailers would come to the project, adding that the project has gained support from most of the community.

A review of the company's Web site shows that it owns or manages shopping centers in Bowie, Clinton and Mitchellville, among other areas. Most of the properties are anchored by grocery stores and fast food restaurants like Popeyes, McDonald's and Burger King.

"No matter what they put there, it's the wrong place to be," said Kelly Canavan, a member of the Greater Accokeek Civic Association. She added that the community is more in need of schools and recreational facilities than places to shop.

There are currently four shopping centers anchored by grocery stores along Indian Head Highway running through Fort Washington and Accokeek, Canavan said. These shopping centers, she added, have a "long history of booming and busting."

Residents of the area continue to be skeptical about the idea of another shopping center coming to Accokeek.

"We've been fighting in southern Prince George's County for years," Proctor said.

To many Accokeek residents, another fight is on the horizon. Residents say they have begun receiving mail campaigns from Regency Centers that depict an unknown family in Accokeek that supports the project because it benefits the community. Other residents have been subjected to door-to-door questionnaires that ask what Canavan said are vague and general questions such as, "Do you support high-end retail in Accokeek?"

"People like to throw around the name Harris Teater to get people excited," she said. "This is a carrot that is being dangled in front of [residents]. Those groceries won't come here."

Fueling residents' anger is what Canavan said is the inability of Councilwoman Marilynn Bland (D-Dist. 9) to take a stance on the project.

But a spokesman for Bland said the project has yet to come before the County Council for approval, and until it does, Bland will be neutral.

"She can't take a position on the matter," said David Billings, a spokesman for Bland. "She must remain objective."

Irminger said Regency Centers has not yet submitted an application for development to the M-NCPPC. She added that the master plan for the area envisioned Branch Avenue/Route 301 in Clinton and Brandywine as development areas and not Accokeek.

"We were never thinking there would be three shopping centers in Accokeek," she said. "We're trying to be smart and strategic about our planning."

M-NCPPC is currently reviewing the master plan for the area. If a decision is made as to whether or not the project can proceed, Irminger said it would come in April 2009 during a public hearing between the planning board and district council.

Meanwhile, Canavan said Accokeek residents are ready for the long haul concerning the project. "It's going to be a long, hard fight," she said.